NYS Senator Fernandez Appears at Pelham Town Council Meeting
By Stephen E. Lipken
Pelham Town Supervisor Daniel McLaughlin opened the September 8th Council meeting, beginning with the Emergency Medical Services Report (EMS) by Councilwoman/Deputy Supervisor Rae Szymanski.
“For the month of August we had 83 calls, 35 in the Town of Pelham, 40 in the Village of Pelham Manor. The response time was six minutes; on scene time, 16 minutes, 5 seconds; transport time, 14 minutes, 5 seconds; turnaround time, 29 minutes, 6 seconds,” Szymanski began.
“The Certificate of Need (CON) status: I would like to thank Mark Baumblatt, EMS/Paramedic Director who did 99% of the applications. We received over 40 letters of support,” Szymanski continued. CON specifically relates to authorization for a municipal ambulance service.
In attendance was NYS Senator Nathalia Fernandez stating that the Senate, “passed a lot of investments in education, mainly school meals for all. Breakfast and lunch are now free for all students. The schools do not have to apply. The cell phone ban in schools is now in effect, except for those students having glucose monitors attached to their phones. For environmental concerns, the State did put an additional $500 million for clean water upgrades and $1 billion for climate funding including zero emissions.”
Fernandez mentioned that the Senate passed a Bill exempting veteran homeowners from property taxes; unfortunately, the Assembly did not. “One thing that did pass in the Budget was awards to allow a transfer of unused benefits to spouses, survivors, and children of veterans.
“For first responders and public safety, we deemed EMS an essential service to ensure reliable funding for EMS services in New York State,” Fernandez concluded.
In the Recreation Report, Councilwoman Kara McLoughlin stated that a Recreation has a new email, recreation@pelhamrecreation.com.
In the Court/Legal Report, Councilwoman Kristen Burke mentioned that the Village can only transport two prisoners at a time which is not enough.